Although there are many different coaches, players, and Indiana University representatives mentioned in the book, Bob Knight is the only true main character in, A Season on the Brink. Bob Knight, or better known as Coach Knight, is a very charismatic individual. On the basketball court many people think off him as “The General” , this name was given to him while he coached at Army. Coach Knight always demanded the player's best. One game he said,"I don't wan't these people out here to be seen, I want them doing something, I want them into the d@#* game!" He was always in direct eye contact with his players sharing with them every mistake they made or just yelling at them to check their mental toughness. Off the court though, Coach Knight was an entirely different person. Although he still comes straight out with the truth, Knight always shows an enormous love for his family and his close friends while off the court. Bob Knight was not only a student of the game of basketball, but also a student of world history and most of all, life.
Robert Montgomery Knight, better known as Bobby or Bob Knight, was born on Octobr 25, 1940 in Massillion, Ohio. He was born to Carroll and Hazel Knight, a railroad worker and school teacher. He graduated high school and attended college at Ohio State University were he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in history and government. He went on to become a Division 1 basketball coach at West Point coaching Army, then for 29 years he coached at Indiana University. Following his firing from Indiana University he took up the head coaching job at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.
On April 25, 1963, Bob Knight married Nancy Faulk, his high school and college sweetheart. They went on to have two sons, Timothy Scott and Patrick Clair Night. In 1985, the year this story takes place in the couple divorced. In 1988, Bob Knight remarried and this time to Karen Edgar, a former Oklahoma High School Basketball coach. Bob Knight was 45 yrs. old, 6' 5", and weighed 200 lbs. in 1985-1986 season which was dubbed the "Season on the Brink".
A Season on the Brink takes place during a time of great accomplishment for the Indiana Hoosier Basketball program. The team, just coming off the National Championship victory with Isaiah Thomas, adds a young and talented Steve Alford to the starting line up. With attitudes to win another championship flying high and in full throttle, the pressure was on not only the players to bring home the gold, but also on the coaching staff and Bob Knight to guide them to the top of the mountain. To explain the importance of basketball in Indiana, it would be easiest to compare it to a custom. Basketball is simply the way of life for anyone who lives in the area of Indiana University. Bob Knight goes through many different challenges to get his team to where he wanted them. Knight once said," Boy, it'd be great if we could just go to Iowa, play, and come home and have a week off, but it can't happen." He was determined to succeed and not lose valuable time. The team was faced with many injuries that year, plus in the middle of the season he was stopped dead in his tracks when one of his former players was in an atrocious car accident that left him paralized for the rest of his life. Throughtout this story, Bob Knight, was faced with many obstacles but for some reason he was able to maintain his composure throughout the story, and not get fired up like usual. He still had his occasional blow ups, but he managed to stay trouble free unlike the previous season when he launched a chair onto the floor during the Purdue game.
Everything that Bob Knight goes through in the book, A Season on the Brink, is relevant to life now because everyone goes through tough times. Whether someone is injured in a family, or maybe an expectation is set to high and there is a fear of letting someone down, or maybe life is just not working out, times will always be tough. This book is just a superb way of demonstrating that all problems can be solved with the right attitude.
Although there are many different coaches, players, and Indiana University representatives mentioned in the book, Bob Knight is the only true main character in, A Season on the Brink. Bob Knight, or better known as Coach Knight, is a very charismatic individual. On the basketball court many people think off him as “The General” , this name was given to him while he coached at Army. Coach Knight always demanded the player's best. One game he said,"I don't wan't these people out here to be seen, I want them doing something, I want them into the d@#* game!" He was always in direct eye contact with his players sharing with them every mistake they made or just yelling at them to check their mental toughness. Off the court though, Coach Knight was an entirely different person. Although he still comes straight out with the truth, Knight always shows an enormous love for his family and his close friends while off the court. Bob Knight was not only a student of the game of basketball, but also a student of world history and most of all, life.
Robert Montgomery Knight, better known as Bobby or Bob Knight, was born on Octobr 25, 1940 in Massillion, Ohio. He was born to Carroll and Hazel Knight, a railroad worker and school teacher. He graduated high school and attended college at Ohio State University were he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in history and government. He went on to become a Division 1 basketball coach at West Point coaching Army, then for 29 years he coached at Indiana University. Following his firing from Indiana University he took up the head coaching job at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.
On April 25, 1963, Bob Knight married Nancy Faulk, his high school and college sweetheart. They went on to have two sons, Timothy Scott and Patrick Clair Night. In 1985, the year this story takes place in the couple divorced. In 1988, Bob Knight remarried and this time to Karen Edgar, a former Oklahoma High School Basketball coach. Bob Knight was 45 yrs. old, 6' 5", and weighed 200 lbs. in 1985-1986 season which was dubbed the "Season on the Brink".
A Season on the Brink takes place during a time of great accomplishment for the Indiana Hoosier Basketball program. The team, just coming off the National Championship victory with Isaiah Thomas, adds a young and talented Steve Alford to the starting line up. With attitudes to win another championship flying high and in full throttle, the pressure was on not only the players to bring home the gold, but also on the coaching staff and Bob Knight to guide them to the top of the mountain. To explain the importance of basketball in Indiana, it would be easiest to compare it to a custom. Basketball is simply the way of life for anyone who lives in the area of Indiana University. Bob Knight goes through many different challenges to get his team to where he wanted them. Knight once said," Boy, it'd be great if we could just go to Iowa, play, and come home and have a week off, but it can't happen." He was determined to succeed and not lose valuable time. The team was faced with many injuries that year, plus in the middle of the season he was stopped dead in his tracks when one of his former players was in an atrocious car accident that left him paralized for the rest of his life. Throughtout this story, Bob Knight, was faced with many obstacles but for some reason he was able to maintain his composure throughout the story, and not get fired up like usual. He still had his occasional blow ups, but he managed to stay trouble free unlike the previous season when he launched a chair onto the floor during the Purdue game.
Everything that Bob Knight goes through in the book, A Season on the Brink, is relevant to life now because everyone goes through tough times. Whether someone is injured in a family, or maybe an expectation is set to high and there is a fear of letting someone down, or maybe life is just not working out, times will always be tough. This book is just a superb way of demonstrating that all problems can be solved with the right attitude.